Vista: trick or treat?

It’s extremely hard to change the public perception of a product once the balance of opinion has deemed it a dud.

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It’s extremely hard to change the public perception of a product once the balance of opinion has deemed it a dud.

Regardless of the fact that millions of people are using Windows Vista quite happily, the operating system (OS) is regarded by whole swathes of the tech community as Microsoft’s most unpopular yet. The knock-on effect is that many ‘normal’ users are tempted to steer clear of it.

However, while it’s fair to say Vista has its flaws, Microsoft would tell you that anyone who tries the OS without any pre-conceptions will be blown away. That’s what the software giant has concluded from an experiment it conducted in July, anyway.

Tricksters in Microsoft’s marketing department invited a group of 120 ‘ordinary’ people to try out a prototype version of Windows called ‘Mojave’ in an apparent effort to gauge public reaction to exciting new technologies earmarked for a future edition of the OS. Microsoft staff showed the users videos to demonstrate various aspects of Mojave and highlighted the improvements they argued would revolutionise the Windows experience. And the guinea pigs loved it.

According to Microsoft, the test group said Mojave was “awesome” and “really cool”, while its speed was described as “incredible”. Ninety percent of the people in the test expressed positive opinions of the prototype OS.

However, it turned out Mojave was actually Windows Vista, and not even in disguise. Microsoft set the whole thing up in an attempt to change the public perception of the OS and encourage Vista bashers to give it another go.

Did the scheme have the desired effect? Has it encouraged people to reconsider the value of Vista? Most commentators said the experiment was flawed – and you can see their point. I’ve been to countless software demonstrations over the years, and the majority of the products looked decent when a representative of the company behind it was on hand to show off the best bits. It’s only when you get to use the product in the real world that its failings become apparent, and that’s the case with Vista. And as our very own Matt Egan pointed out in his PC Advisor blog, demonstrating snapshots of features to create a favourable perception of Windows was exactly what got Microsoft into trouble with Vista in the first place.

That said, as software becomes more powerful, it’s fair to say more and more functionality can get lost to the naked eye. We tend to use the bare minimum of features to get by, and fail to make the most of the real cleverness that runs in the background. In that respect, you can understand Microsoft’s attempts to try and highlight the best bits of Vista, when the critics do so much to highlight the bad.

Can’t be persuaded?

Ultimately, if you’re unhappy with Vista, or even XP, there are things you can do to improve it. If you don’t like Vista’s Aero user interface, tweak it so it looks like XP. If User Account Control is too much of a nag, turn it off. And if you’re envious of features that come as standard in other OSes, such as Mac OS X, and are frustrated that Microsoft hasn’t included them in Vista or XP – well, do something about it.

This month's cover feature is designed to help you do precisely this, picking out the best features Microsoft should have included with Windows, and showing you how to get them. Pick up the October issue of PC Advisor, on sale now.

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Comments

SmartTalk said: Comments,SmartTalk,I have Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and its great - what Vista is trying and failing horribly to be. Happy Birthday, iMac!

Marc Eddy said: Comments,Marc Eddy,I resisted upgrading to Vista for ages before I recently got myself a new machine and thought I may as well give in and try it. After a couple of hours of adjusting to the new look and the new way of doing some tasks, I find I actually prefer it to XP. I guess it all boils down to personal taste in the end. And my partner reminds me that I was just as needlessly apprehensive over switching from ME to XP a few years ago. Fear of the unknown, I suppose.

paul said: Comments,paul,I have vista and find it easier than any. great OS

The Irate Bay said: Comments,The Irate Bay,"Millions of people downloaded the Black Death in 1345"
Fortunately, antivirus software has come a long way since then... seriously though, people are complaining because Vista is the most complicated MSOS to date, well it does a lot more, so it will be, you just need to adapt and learn...Vista has taken a good few steps toward an OS that pretty much protects and maintains itself, so we can concentrate more on the functional aspects, the things we want to do. The .303 rifle was a good weapon during WW1 and 2, but would have been severely limited in the Falklands campaign and near useless in Iraq and Aphganistan. Learn Vista, make it do what you want it to and enjoy!

Patrick Neylan said: Comments,Patrick Neylan,"Microsoft has sold well over 100 million copies of Vista, I think it's safe to assume 'millions' of users don't have a problem with it"If it comes pre-installed, what choice have you got?
Millions of people downloaded the Black Death in 1345 - and used its full functionality. Doesn't mean they were happy with it.
Maybe that's a tad extreme to describe my experience of Vista, but you get the idea.

Mr Darryll Elston said: Comments,Mr Darryll Elston,"Microsoft would tell you that anyone who tries the OS without any pre-conceptions will be blown away."
I had no preconceptions of the operating system when I first purchased it, I was informed by the sales assistant that it would handle my needs adequately, it crashed and stalled on a regular basis, the problem and solution centre constantly offered "no new solutions".
"Regardless of the fact that millions of people are using Windows Vista quite happily, "
No, no I'm not, more crashes than a stock car race.
I await the next instalment from microsoft with a weary eye.

Patrick Neylan said: Comments,Patrick Neylan,"Microsoft has sold well over 100 million copies of Vista, I think it's safe to assume 'millions' of users don't have a problem with it"If it comes pre-installed, what choice have you got?
Millions of people downloaded the Black Death in 1345 - and used its full functionality. Doesn't mean they were happy with it.
Maybe that's a tad extreme to describe my experience of Vista, but you get the idea.

Birdseyetothebar said: Comments,Birdseyetothebar,I have used Windows O.S. ever since Windows 95 and have found every upgrade to be better than its predecessor . I have been using Windows XP since it was released and found it to be the best Windows OS program ever. Then came along Vista which is installed on my laptop whilst still running XP on my desktop. I find Vista to be over complicated with too many button and bells and I think Microsoft should re evaluate the reasons for upgrading.

Rich Madden said: Comments,Rich Madden,The efforts just go to show that it is not because that windows has the bad product but that microsoft has a bad reputation for releasing a faulty product to the public and usually it will creat a havoc for the corps that switch to it immediately. I have the habit of waiting until the first service pack is released before I try it. Then I test the water. With my 30 years of IT experience there have been many errors in releases of their software that have caused the need to roll back from the latest to a more stable platform more than once.

Craig said: Comments,Craig,My mom is a "normal" computer user. Surfs, emails and takes minutes for her church group. I bought her a laptop with Vista (against my better judgement based on my experiences). It was less than a week before mom was complaining about how studid Vista's interface was and how she was having problems using the system. (With her old computer and XP the only complaints/problems were actual problems like cacked hard drives and spyware)

paul trotter said: Comments,paul trotter,Unfortunately not! But given that Microsoft has sold well over 100 million copies of Vista, I think it's safe to assume 'millions' of users don't have a problem with it.

Ian Church said: Comments,Ian Church,"Regardless of the fact that millions of people are using Windows Vista quite happily, "Can you prove this statement?